


Inked

by HedonistInk



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Character Turned Into Vampire, Getting Together, M/M, Magical Tattoos, Online Dating, Online Relationship, Tattoos, Vampire Sex, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 16:05:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13978677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HedonistInk/pseuds/HedonistInk
Summary: Keith was certain of one thing: With his first paycheck, after his rent was paid, he was going to get a tattoo.What he hadn't counted on was becoming a snack for a vampire only a few days before that day came.





	Inked

**Author's Note:**

> -screams- OKAY SO. Hey Nova, I'm your gifter for the Sheithlentines exchange and I am so sorry this is so horribly late. Things have been... Well chaotic is a good short summary for it. Long story short, my house is half demolished at the moment and things have been... a bit difficult to keep track of. Anyway, long story short, you asked for tattoos and vampires and I've had this idea scrapped and rewritten three times so hopefully you like the end result! If you have an AO3 and want this gifted to you, just let me know!

Keith had always been fascinated by tattoos and had desperately wanted one. But his adoptive parents, a kind but rather…  _ devout _ couple, had objected to the idea  _ adamantly _ . They'd objected to a lot of things about Keith, actually, although the others they were more willing to turn a blind eye to. Not the least of which was how very  _ very _ gay he was. As long as he didn't bring any boys home and wasn't 'visibly' gay, they just pretended that it wasn't as important an aspect of his personality as it was. Whatever, he could deal. Other kids had it worse. That was just life being… different. Everyone else always just seemed… stuck in the past. 

But having ink or metal in his skin was the one thing they couldn't overlook, apparently. They said it was a sign of hooliganism, that people shouldn't be tattooed like cattle. Keith wasn't even entirely sure who still  _ used _ the word 'hooliganism' outside of his household. Still, he was fascinated by tattoos and body modifications in general. 

By the time Keith was ready to move out when he turned 18, he was certain of one thing: With his first paycheck, after his rent was paid, he was  _ going _ to get a tattoo. 

What he hadn't counted on was becoming a snack for a vampire only a few days before that day came. 

The adjustment period had been…  _ rough _ to say the least. The bloodlust, trying to balance his need to not be hungry against the  _ serious _ disinterest in any and all things bloodsucking, and trying to maintain some semblance of his normal life. Yeah, okay, Keith was in denial for a long while. He didn't  _ want _ to be a vampire. He wanted to just be… Keith, the same Keith he'd always been. 

But there was no denying the way his body ached and craved blood, rejecting any 'normal' foods. Fuck. That really sucked. 

Keith was thankful as the internet gained in popularity because with it also rose the availability of resources for people like him. He developed a sense of community, even if it was only through a screen, and was able to find resources the likes of which he never could have imagined when he was first turned. With blood exchanges and willing donors and bite fetishists and an entire  _ network  _ based around the things someone like him could need, the online supernatural community proved a lifesaver more than once. He was pretty sure the anonymous guy who'd donated him an overnight blood shipment when he was running short on cash  _ definitely _ saved some poor mortal from getting turned by Keith's hunger. 

Still, in more ways than not, Keith was still Keith. And he still  _ wanted _ the look that he'd always wanted. More than once, Keith had dropped his money on tattoos and piercings only for them to fall out or reject within a few days. Even when he'd gone in hungry. Nothing Keith tried had worked. None of the tips and tricks he'd found  _ worked. _ It just… didn't seem possible. So he stuck to just admiring from afar. 

One day, he stumbled onto something new. It was a community for queer supernaturals, welcoming everyone from vampire to werewolf to fae. Keith fell in love with the community almost immediately, diving in deep and making it his second home. 

One member in particular caught his attention. He was a guy with the moniker of 'Shiro' and a vague profile image of a pierced tongue stuck out between two fangs. The profile image was  _ entirely _ absurd and over the top but something about him… caught Keith's interest. Every post Shiro made was well-thought and detailed, he had a commanding presence and an attention to detail that even one as impulsive as Keith tended to be could appreciate. 

Okay. So the guy, Shiro, had an attractive personality.

Attractive and… incredibly secretive, Keith found. The more he interacted with Shiro on the forum, the more he wanted to know more about him. What was his life like, what did he spend his time doing, where did he live, how long had he been around? Keith had plenty of questions. Keith knew Shiro was at least a hundred just from details he'd gained from things Shiro had mentioned in passing. Keith knew Shiro had several body and facial piercings as well as ink etched into most of his skin. But more than that? He had no idea. 

But he wanted to find out. 

Keith had never been the best at making friends—or more than friends—and normally he was okay with that. Since he'd been turned, he'd made a few good friends who he treasured and he'd had a few short-lived relationships with other vampires—and a bloodlust-fueled one night stand with a werewolf that Keith  _ definitely _ had no plans of repeating. But he always seemed to have a knack for pushing most people away. Staying alone was just… easier than having to get used to being alone  _ again _ . Still, something about Shiro made Keith want to  _ try _ to impress him, made him  _ want _ to be around him. His friends were  _ more _ than well-aware of Keith's crush as he gushed about the things Shiro said in his posts and their discussions, most of which his friends had already read for themselves but still let Keith gush to them about. 

One night after yet another discussion thread had spiraled into something long and almost… flirtatious—assuming Keith wasn't reading too much into it—Keith gathered his courage and sent a friend request. Shiro had accepted almost immediately, messaging Keith privately now that he had the option.

If Keith held a candle for Shiro's public persona, the one he held for his persona in their private conversations was a dozen times brighter and more brilliant in its intensity. He was smart and witty and had a  _ horrible _ sense of humour, seeming to think dad puns counted as  _ real _ jokes. He was an artist and everything Shiro showed him was beyond gorgeous. He'd even designed a few of his own tattoos, it seemed. For Keith's birthday, Shiro had sent him a file to have printed of a piece done just for him. It sat in a frame on Keith's wall just above his desk. And oh, Shiro was  _ hot. _ He'd known Shiro was ripped from some of the pictures he'd posted of his tattoos, but Keith was pretty sure he swooned the first time Shiro sent him a picture that included his  _ face. _

Even with all their discussion, Shiro was still secretive about where he lived. Keith had mentioned his own city a few times, bringing up concerts or events he'd gone to, places he'd seen, and Shiro had acknowledged those things, expressed his interest, but he'd always adamantly avoided mentioning where he lived or what he did for a living. 

"Shiro… what  _ do _ you do, anyway?" Keith had asked finally one night. "I've told you all of this about me but… I still feel like there's such a big part of you that I just… don't know. I get that you don't want to tell me where you live but… why can't you at least tell me what you do? We've been talking for months now."

"If I told you where I worked, you'd know where I live," Shiro answered simply before changing the topic. 

Keith thought that was the end of it and resigned himself to just asking again another time. 

The next morning he woke up to a message from Shiro. "If you really want to know where I live and what it is that I do, go here, MAKE SURE you use refer code Sh!r0x2823, get to 10 posts. You'll see." A link followed, nondescript and shortened. 

Keith didn't hesitate before clicking. Of course he wanted to know. 

It was… a forum specifically dedicated to alternative and eclectic body mods. But they were also open to those who just… appreciated the mods. Still, it seemed to be geared towards… humans. Strange. Was Shiro a moderator on the site or something? Keith made a membership almost immediately, verifying his account so he could chat and comment on the different posts. Once he hit his tenth post after going through the introduction thread and a few other random posts, commenting his thoughts on a few pieces of gorgeous body art, he got a message saying that his referral code had been approved and he would now have 'advanced features' on his account. 

Those 'advanced features', it turned out, came in the form of a secondary subsection of the forum that was unlocked to him, a section specifically dedicated to tattooing and body mods on  _ supernatural beings _ .  _ What? _ There was another introduction thread, another whole complete forum, existing inside of the other. As near as he could tell, Keith's post count on the supernatural subforum didn't change when he posted on the public forum and vice-versa. 

But… body mods on supernaturals? 

From what he could gather, they used silver-blend and iron-blend needles as well as an assortment of creams and treatments to slow the healing process enough for the tattoos to take. There were even  _ magic _ tattoos that would move and change and shift, anything from familiars to the phases of the moon. 

Keith took a while to browse through the members and the mentions of different studios and who had inked or pierced what on whom and where. And then he'd noticed a picture he was  _ sure _ he'd seen before. Shiro had shown it to him. Keith had watched it be designed. Keith had watched that art be made  _ by _ Shiro. Below it was name 'Takashi Shirogane'. Shiro. And again. And again. Shiro. Shiro was listed over and over as the artist for a lot of the best tattoo work he saw. 

Shiro was a tattoo artist. And oh, his tattoo work was beautiful. The way he used colours brought depth and life to the tattoos that Keith had only seen from some of the most expensive and exclusive studios. They looked almost ready to jump off of the client's skin and they  _ weren't _ the magic tattoos he'd seen that just might. They were just ink on skin and yet they seemed so…  _ alive _ . 

And Shiro's shop was… 

_ Oh. _

Keith knew where that was.

This entire  _ fucking _ time, Shiro had been working only a few short minutes away from Keith's apartment.

What the  _ fuck? _

Asshole. 

"Are you fucking kidding me? You  _ live here? _ " Keith had sent. Okay, so maybe that was a bit obnoxious. "I thought you lived far away or something. Can we meet for coffee some time?"

"Should I take that to mean you've gotten past the verification filter and figured out who I am? Or should I be concerned about hacking? ;)" 

"Shiro. Your art is  _ fucking gorgeous??? _ I didn't even know it was  _ possible _ . Tattoos on supernaturals??? This is amazing. You're amazing." Okay, maybe Keith was gushing a bit.

"Contrary to what they say, flattery  _ will  _ get you everywhere. You know the Altea Cafe on the corner of 8th and Washington? Meet me there at… say… 7p tomorrow?"

"It's a date."

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/hedonistink) or [tumblr!](http://hedonistink.tumblr.com/) As always, comments and kudos are treasured and appreciated!


End file.
